Rainy Day
by Minty Chinchilla
Summary: A rainy day leaves Ben and Kevin on their own. Somewhat fluffy. Kevin/Ben, BeVin.


**A/N:** This hit me in a dream. Seriously. It was raining raining raining RAINING all weekend long, from the day before Halloween til the Tuesday after. That's not really the weekend is it? It includes the weekend though… and Saturday was the worst. But Monday resulted in me having to peel my pants off my legs.

There's my inspiration for you: wet pants.

Oh yeah, I started writing this BEFORE "Grounded" aired, so I'm assuming Ben's parents DON'T know about the alien fighting and that they don't know Kevin. Of course, now that I've seen "Grounded," I just had to add in "ruffian." Even if it isn't used in quite as endearing a context as it was in the show.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Ben 10: Alien Force. I am merely borrowing the characters to get out my rainy day jitters.

*****

**Rainy Day  
**_By Minty Chinchilla_

Thick gray clouds loomed overhead, obscuring the sun and the sky. Ben leaned against the wall behind him, staring up at the clouds, trying to find shapes in the mottled texture. Gwen and Kevin didn't know he had slipped away from them. Their constant bickering was getting annoying. Ben needed to get away from them, to enjoy a quiet that only the clouds could share.

"So this is where you disappeared off to." Ben jerked as he turned to see Kevin standing off to his right, eyebrow quirked up as though amused by Ben's surprise at being found. When Ben made no move away from the wall, Kevin rolled his eyes and grabbed Ben's arm. "C'mon, let's go before Gwen bitches at me again."

Unfortunately for Kevin, Gwen was in a bitchy mood that day. After sending the boys a death glare fit to fry eggs, Gwen marched up to them, complaining about how long it took Kevin to find Ben. She was so completely into her tirade that she didn't even notice that the boys had stopped listening to her and were getting into Kevin's car.

"Can we leave her here?" Kevin looked at Ben over the roof of the car. "I don't wanna hear this all the way back to Bellwood."

"No, Kevin, we can't leave her behind. She'll just gripe at you more."

"Nuts." Ben could've sworn Kevin pouted at that. But this was Kevin Levin. He _never_ pouts. "GWEN! SHUT UP AND GET IN THE CAR!"

Gwen got in the car, but she didn't shut up. In fact, she got louder. Ben let her climb into the backseat, in hopes of making it easier for Kevin to ignore her. Half way back to Bellwood, it started raining. This added to Gwen's complaints, which thankfully had settled down to grumbles when she realized the boys weren't responding to her. Ben hoped she was getting tired of being angry and was calming down. Back in Bellwood, Kevin stopped at Gwen's house first; she was quieter, but that didn't mean he wanted to be around her any longer than necessary. Gwen climbed out over Ben and ran inside before the rain soaked her.

"So… got anything to do? I don't feel much like going home yet." Kevin had a glint in his eye, the kind that made Ben's knees give out just a little every time he saw it.

"Not really. But we're gonna need better jackets if we're going outside." Ben tugged at his green jacket, as if to emphasize its lack of waterproofing. Kevin nodded in response as he drove. They decided to snag extra jackets at Ben's house. "I'll see if there's anything lying around that could fit you." Ben ran inside and fumbled around in the closet for some kind of raincoat, after dodging his parents. Unfortunately, Ben's parent-dodging skills were not quite as ninja as he had thought.

"Ben, you've been gone all day with Gwen and that boy, where on Earth are planning on going _now _in this rai—GOODNESS, what is that?" Ben's mother had finally noticed a spectacular bruise on Ben's right arm as he pulled his t-shirt off to replace it with a warmer one.

"Huh? Oh. That. Um… a bruise?" Ben never did tell his parents about the Omnitrix and the alien escapades he got up to. And he sure didn't plan on telling his mom about that morning's run-in with DNAliens hoarding illegal alien tech. He'd need Gwen in a good mood to help him explain all of that to his parents. Ben figured he'd just wait until Grandma Verdona showed up again before telling them.

"Ben! That's not just a BRUISE! It looks like someone _grabbed _you! My goodness, are you all right? Did they hurt you anywhere else?"

"What? C'mon, Mom! This is just from soccer practice yesterday!" Luckily, Ben's mother still hadn't learned that her son's left eye twitched when he lies.

"But you play goalie! No one should be grabbing you if you're the goalie!"

"Exactly! Who would grab me?!" Other than that one particularly aggressive DNAlien? Ben still wasn't telling her about the aliens. "It's just a bruise I got from diving after the ball, OK Mom? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go."

"Go where? And who with? I don't like that ruffian you've been hanging around with. You're hardly ever at home anymore and you don't _talk_ to me—"

"That's because I'm busy, Mom." Ben grabbed the jacket he found for Kevin and pushed pass his mother. "I don't know _where_ I'm going, but I do know that I'm going with Kevin. I'll be back later." With that, Ben grabbed an umbrella and walked out the door. He felt a little bad about not telling his mother about what's been going on, but he _couldn't _tell her. She wouldn't understand the magnitude of all the things he had done with the Omnitrix.

"Here, have a jacket." Ben tossed the jacket he found at Kevin as he climbed into the car. Kevin's eyebrow quirked up.

"Leather?"

"What? It was the only jacket in the house that was waterproof and would fit you!"

"You sure you didn't get it 'cause you wanted to see me in leather?"

"Psh," Ben forced air past his lips. "You don't have to wear it if you don't want. Ex_cuse_ me for trying to keep you dry." Ben couldn't help but think that Kevin was having a little too much fun at his expense. It wouldn't have been as bad if Ben really _hadn't _wanted to see Kevin in a leather jacket.

Not long afterwards, Kevin turned down a side street. Ben didn't notice: he was too busy trying to get a clear signal on the radio. When Ben gave up on the radio, he spared a glance out the passenger seat window. Kevin had driven to the lake, and the rain was leaving rippling patterns across the water.

"Why'd we come here?" Ben pressed his nose up against the window, fogging up the glass. Kevin flicked Ben in the back of the head, mumbling about noseprints, and shrugged on the leather jacket as he got out of the car. Ben scrambled out after him, fumbling to get his arms through the sleeves of his raincoat. He pulled the hood over his head as he caught up to Kevin at the lake's edge.

"I dunno if I ever really got to thank you." Kevin drew in a breath as he put his hands in the jacket's pockets.

"Thank me? For what?"

"Sticking by me through everything we've done. After everything I've done." Kevin looked across the lake, avoiding Ben's eyes. "I let something I couldn't control take over my life and I took it out on you 'cause I blamed you for it. And yet, here you are. Years later, and you've forgiven me, tolerated me, became my _friend_."

Ben peered around the edge of his hood to get a better look at Kevin. "We were friends when we were kids, even if it was only for a day. Why would it be hard for us to be friends now?"

"That's just it. It ain't hard. I figured it would take more than helping you fight aliens to be your friend again." Kevin turned to face Ben. His eyes glistened with an emotion Ben couldn't place, hadn't seen in Kevin's eyes before. He looked insecure, confused, and a little hopeful. Ben couldn't help himself; he reached out and wrapped an arm around the older teen. Not quite a hug, but the meaning was there. Just enough to show Kevin that he was a friend, to show that he forgave him. He wasn't prepared, however, for Kevin to return the gesture, with both arms, grasping Ben tightly as though afraid to let go.

They stood at the edge of the lake, wrapped in each other's arms. Neither cared about the rain showering down on them.

*****

**A/N:** Ummm… there you go. Not quite where I was planning to go with this (wasn't planning on going anywhere with it actually), but here we go. I'm kinda… not happy with it. Gwen's too bitchy. And DAMN Kevin is hard to write. Everything I try to get him to say sounds LAME.

Oh well, the whole reason I'm writing is to get better at it. Give me some constructive criticism, would you please?


End file.
